Privacy Statement
Last revised: January 1, 2020
At The Spark of Hope Foundation (“Spark of Hope”, “we” or “us”), we are committed to protecting your privacy and safeguarding your personal information.
The purpose of this Privacy Statement is to inform you about the types of Personal Information Spark of Hope collects, uses and discloses. It explains how we use and disclose that information, the choices you have regarding such use and disclosure, and how you may correct that information.
Your privacy is one of our priorities. We are proud to demonstrate our commitment to your privacy by complying with the laws and regulations under applicable privacy laws in Canada.
From time to time, we may make changes to this Privacy Statement. The Privacy Statement is current as of the “last revised” date which appears at the top of this page. We will treat Personal Information in a manner consistent with the Privacy Statement under which it was collected, unless we have your consent to treat it differently. This Privacy Statement applies to any information we collect or receive about you, from any source.
The following topics will be covered in this Privacy Statement:
1. To which companies does this Privacy Statement apply?
2. What is Personal Information?
3. How do we collect your Personal Information?
4. Where do we store your Personal Information?
5. How do we use your Personal Information?
6. To whom do we provide your Personal Information?
7. When and how do we obtain your consent?
8. How do we ensure the privacy of your Personal Information when dealing with our affiliates and other third parties?
9. How long will we utilize, disclose or retain your Personal Information?
10. How can you review your Personal Information that we have collected, utilized or disclosed?
11. How do you know that the Personal Information we have on you is accurate?
12. What if the Personal Information we have on you is inaccurate?
13. How quickly will we respond to your written requests?
14. What safeguards have we implemented to protect your Personal Information?
15. How do you contact us regarding access to your Personal Information or our privacy practices
To which companies does this Privacy Statement apply?
This Privacy Statement applies to the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information by the Spark of Hope Foundation.
What is Personal Information?
“Personal Information” is any information that is identifiable with you, as an individual. This information may include but is not limited to:
1. Your name, address, email address, occupation and birth date;
2. Your educational institution, field of study and educational status;
3. Your biography and résumé information, photo and medical conditions;
4. Your social insurance number and legal status in the country which you reside;
5. Your financial information including information related to your financial institution(s) and bank account information, and your estimated annual family disposable income and liquid net worth;
6. Information we may need in the course of the administration of certain grants and scholarships such as tax records, school transcripts and other documentation necessary to support claims or requests for our various grants and scholarships; and
7. Amount(s) you are donating or leaving as an endowment or other legacy gift to the Foundation.
How do we collect your Personal Information?
We will always collect your Personal Information by fair and lawful means (for example, when you apply for a grant or scholarship with us or make a pledge or donation). We may collect Personal Information from you directly and/or from third parties, where we have obtained your consent to do so or as otherwise required or permitted by law.
We may collect standard internet log information about how and when you use any of our websites like: https://old.thesparkofhope.org/. This information may include but not be limited to, your IP address and location data, weblogs, time, date, browser used, referring web addresses, other communication data, searches conducted, pages visited.
In addition, to ensure that our website is optimized for ease of use, we or our service provider(s) may use cookies to collect standard information about your use of our site, including your language preferences, your browser type and version, and similar information. These cookies are intended to optimize your experience of our website.
Where do we store your Personal Information?
We will keep the Personal Information that we collect at the Spark of Hope offices or at the offices of our third party service providers, as applicable. Donor and student-related information is stored securely with our service providers in the United States.
How do we use your Personal Information?
We identify the purposes for which we use your Personal Information at the time we collect such information from you and obtain your consent, in any case, prior to such use. We generally use your Personal Information for the following purposes (the “Purposes”):
1. to make decisions about grants and scholarships to respond to inquiries and to provide you with requested information or services;
2. to develop and maintain meaningful community relationships between applicants, recipients of grants and scholarships, and potential, existing and past partners and donors;
3. to manage your scholarship application to Spark of Hope;
4. to respond to questions, comments or concerns regarding the Spark of Hope Foundation;
5. to provide you with information about conferences and events;
6. to process donations and tax receipts;
7. to collect opinions and comments in regard to Spark of Hope’s operations;
8. to perform demographic analysis for planning purposes (but only on an aggregate and anonymous basis);
9. to recruit for positions at Spark of Hope and for other employment-related tasks;
10. to investigate legal claims;
11. such purposes for which Spark of Hope may obtain consent from time to time; and
12. such other uses as may be permitted or required by applicable law.
To whom do we provide your Personal Information?
We identify to whom, and for what purposes, we disclose your Personal Information, at the time we collect such information from you and obtain your consent to such disclosure.
We may transfer your Personal Information to third party service providers with whom we have a contractual agreement that includes appropriate privacy standards, where such third parties are assisting us with the Purposes – such as service providers that provide telephone support, data storage or processing, or hosting.
In addition, we may send Personal Information outside of Canada for the Purposes, including for process and storage by service providers in connection with such Purposes. However, you should note that to the extent that any Personal Information is out Canada, it is subject to the laws of the country in which it is held, and may be subject to disclosure to the governments, courts or law enforcement or regulatory agencies of such other country, pursuant to the laws of such country. [For written information about our policies and practices regarding service providers outside of Canada, contact our Privacy Information Officer (see question 15 below).]
When and how do we obtain your consent?
We generally obtain your consent prior to collecting, and in any case, prior to using or disclosing your Personal Information for any purpose. You may provide your consent to us either orally, electronically or in writing. The form of consent that we seek, including whether it is express or implied, will largely depend on the sensitivity of the Personal Information and the reasonable expectations you might have in the circumstances.
How do we ensure the privacy of your Personal Information when dealing with our affiliates and other third parties?
We ensure that all affiliates and other third parties that are engaged to perform services on our behalf and are provided with Personal Information are contractually required to observe the intent of this Privacy Statement and our privacy practices.
How long will we utilize, disclose or retain your Personal Information?
We may keep a record of your Personal Information, correspondence or comments, in a file specific to you. We will utilize, disclose or retain your Personal Information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which that Personal Information was collected and as permitted or required by law.
How can you review your Personal Information that we have collected, utilized or disclosed?
If you make a written request to review any Personal Information about you that we have collected, utilized or disclosed, we will provide you with any such Personal Information to the extent required by law. We will make such Personal Information available to you in a form that is generally understandable and will explain any abbreviations or codes.
How do you know that the Personal Information we have on you is accurate?
We will ensure that your Personal Information is kept as accurate, complete and up-to-date as possible. We may ask you, from time to time, to supply us with written updates to your Personal Information, when required.
What if the Personal Information we have on you is inaccurate?
At any time, you can challenge the accuracy or completeness of your Personal Information in our records. If you successfully demonstrate that your Personal Information in our records is inaccurate or incomplete, we will amend the Personal Information as required. Where appropriate, we will transmit the amended information to third parties having access to your Personal Information.
How quickly will we respond to your written requests?
We will attempt to respond to each of your written requests not later than fifteen (15) days after receipt of such requests. We will advise you in writing if we cannot meet your requests within this time limit. You have the right to make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or applicable provincial privacy commissioner in respect of this time limit. We may request that you provide sufficient identification to permit access to the existence, use or disclosure of your Personal Information.
What safeguards have we implemented to protect your Personal Information?
We have implemented physical, organizational, contractual and technological security measures to protect your Personal Information from loss or theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification. The only employees who are granted access to your Personal Information are those with a business “need-to-know” or whose duties reasonably require such information.
How do you contact us regarding access to your Personal Information or our privacy practices?
All comments, questions, concerns or complaints regarding your Personal Information or our privacy practices should be forwarded to our Privacy Information Officer as follows:
In writing: Attn: Privacy Information Officer
Address: The Spark of Hope Foundation
99 Harbour Square, Suite 2207, Toronto ON M5J 2H2
By e-mail: privacy@thesparkofhope.org